Sonipat district

Sonipat district (Hindi: सोनीपत ज़िला, Punjabi: ਸੋਨੀਪਤ ਜ਼ਿਲਾ) is one of the 21 districts of Haryana state in northern India. Sonipat town is the district headquarters. It is a part of National Capital Region along with Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida, Ghaziabad.

The district borders Delhi union territory in south, Panipat District in the north, Jind District in the north-west, Uttar Pradesh state in the east with the Yamuna River acting as a border and Rohtak District in the west.

Origin of name

The district is named after its administrative headquarters, Sonipat. Sonipat was earlier known as Sonprastha, which later became Svarnaprastha (Golden City), which is derived from two Sanskrit words, Svarna (Gold) and Prastha (Place). Over a period of time, the classical name Svarnprastha's pronunciation degraded into Svarnpat, and then to its current form, Sonipat. The earliest reference of this city comes in the epic Mahabharata, and at that time, it was one of the five villages demanded by the Pandavas in lieu of the kingdom of Hastinapur.

Sonipat

Sonipat also spelled as Sonepat, (founded as Swarnaprastha or Suvarnaprastha by the five Pandava brothers during the times of Mahabharata war) is a town and a Municipal Council in Haryana state of India. It comes under the National Capital Region and is around 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Delhi. It is also around 214 km(128 miles) southwest of Chandigarh, the state capital. The Yamuna River runs along the eastern boundary.

On 22 December 1972, Sonipat was carved out of Rohtak and made a full-fledged district.

Etymology

According to legend, Sonipat was earlier known as Sonprastha, which later on became 'Svarnaprastha' (स्वर्णप्रस्थ, lit. golden city). Later, the name Svarnaprastha changed into Svarnpath, and then to its current form, Sonipat/Sonepat.

Ancient history

Reference to the city comes in the epic Mahabharata, Sonipat was founded as Swarnaprastha by the five Pandava brothers. It was one of the five prasthas or towns demanded by Yudhishthira as the price of peace from Duryodhana and in lieu of the kingdom of Hastinapur. The other four villages were Panprastha (Panipat), Baghprastha (Baghpat), Tilprastha (Tilpat) and Indraprastha. Another legend ascribed it to Raja Soni, the thirteenth descendent of Arjuna, one of the Pandava brothers.

Sonipat (Lok Sabha constituency)

Sonipat Lok Sabha constituency (earlier spelt as Sonepat) (Hindi: सोनीपत लोकसभा निर्वाचन क्षेत्र) is one of the 10 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Haryana state in northern India.

Assembly segments

At present, Sonipat Lok Sabha constituency comprises nine Vidhan Sabha (legislative assembly) constituencies. These are:

Members of Parliament

General elections 2014

See also

Notes